Things From Dexter

“Texas” by Magic Man | Dex told me about this song three months ago… and then realized he should be writing about this himself, seeing that he’s now part of the team and all. So I let him, and I waited for him. Life got in the way over those three months, though. Her mother was diagnosed with lung cancer. Things happened quickly; she passed away a week and a half ago. I thought of writing about this during those three months, but only now have I had the space, and in the most unfortunate of circumstances, sadly. Now, presented without comment, a track from Boston-based indie-by-numbers band Magic Man. You know how songs take on a different meaning depending on where you are, yes? [NB]

“Love Me Like You” by Ella Eyre | Yes, Dexter, I did beat you to the punch with Ella Eyre; I did write about her early last month, in the aftermath of her being included in the BBC Sound of 2014 long list. (Actually, just yesterday, she was second on the short list.) So that makes two of us pegging her for big things, then. Also, I thought this was a Magic Numbers cover. That would’ve been interesting, eh? [NB] (Have things I should hear? Drop me a line here.)

“Call Yourself A Lover” by Pr0files | “YouTube [and] Soundcloud sidebar jumping doesn’t need to scar you for life,” Dexter said in his email, and that was followed by a link to, well, Ylvis’ “The Fox”, a song which I have successfully avoided (and yes, even during the Magic live blog, because they haven’t played that song, to our surprise). I don’t get how that song would lead him to this one from Pr0files, perhaps apart from the vague dance-y connection. But the first single from this new Los Angeles duo is delicious: dreamy, slightly fierce synths and the voice of this Lauren girl (sorry, I can’t find her last name) just makes things sexier. So yeah, nothing vaguely fox-y here. Their debut album, Jurassic Technologie, will be out soon, but this single is now available for free download over on, well, Soundcloud. No harm done. [NB] (Have things I should hear? Drop me a line here.)

“Modern Jesus” by Portugal. The Man | Suddenly Portugal. The Man (I don’t have a problem with their use of punctuation, as opposed to Fun [fun.] which is just plain… ugh) is gaining a bit of traction. Last I heard, they’ve even placed on Jam 88.3’s supposedly alternative charts. At the risk of sounding pompous, I remember these guys from their earlier work – I was in college, discovering 6 Music and indie MP3 blogs, and they just released Waiter: “You Vultures!”, their first album, and I was grabbing anything I could grab just because. And now the Alaskan group whose indie has a sense of experimentalism – albeit one that, considering what almost every other indie band does, isn’t out of places anywhere anymore. Dexter recommended this one, released off their arguably breakthrough record Evil Friends, hoping that me, an “indie folk hating hipster” – it’s a joke, kids, don’t worry – would like this. And I do, Dex, in an oddly uplifting way, I do, so we’re now at 3-2. [NB] (Have things I should hear? Drop me a line here.)

“Vapour” by Vancouver Sleep Clinic | “I just cannot not share this,” Dexter told me when he emailed in this song three weeks ago (yep, I have a bit of a backlog, and I’m sorry) and after listening… I don’t get why he felt that way. Vancouver Sleep Clinic is, according to their Facebook page, “for lovers of Bon Iver and James Blake”, which leads me to ask, “why would I want to listen to a group who sounds very much like them, and not to the actual ones?” Yes, I know I’m sounding pretty mean to these Brisbane-based folk. To their credit, their sound is distilled and smooth, Tim Bettinson’s voice acting more as an instrument than the more distinct role vocals usually do. But yeah, a part of me still thinks this sounds too much like their aforementioned influences. Long way to go, but I don’t think it’s my thing. [NB] (Have things I should hear? Drop me a line here.)